Distance responsive controller



"March 6, 192s. 1,661,677

T. H. PHILLIPS, JR

DISTANCE RESPONSIVE CONTROLLER Filed Feb. l2. 1918 INVENTOH Patented Mar. 6,1928.

UNITED STATES 1,661,677 PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS H. PHILLIPS, JR., F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, SSIGNOR TO. THE SPEEDY GYROSCOPE COMPANY, 0F BROOKLYN ,NEW YORK, A CORPORATION Ol' NEW YORK.

vDIS'JAlWE RESPONSIITE CONTROLLER.

Application 616.11 February 12, 191s. serial 110.216,809.

This invention relatesto devices adapted to permit or cause actuation of a controller after a rotatable .element has made a prede-A termined number ot revolutions. More spe ciiically, the invention relates to a device for effec-ting a change in an electrical circuit when a wind-wheel has made a predetermined number of revolutions. f

lAlthough my invention is capable of l0 broad application, it is especially adapted` for use in connection with aerial torpedoes. The latter are equipped with a device for opening or closing a switch, valve or other controller to bring the torpedo down or tire the same after a wind-wheel actuating or controlling said device has made a predetermined number ot revolutions. i. e., after the torpedo hastraveled a predetermined distance. 90 One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide av device of the above mentioned class which may be set accurately to any predetermined unit of distance or fraction thereof. l

Another object is to provide a device which is compact, light and which offers little air resistance. yFurther objects andadvantages will appear as the invention is hereinatter developed.

` Referring to the drawings which illustrate what I now' consider the preferred form of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary pl'an view partly in section of my device.

Fig. 2 is' a similar view with the top cover plate removed.

Fig. 3 is an'elevation, partly in section, of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2., l

Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of a part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a plan View on a different scale showing my device applied to one of the vertical struts of an aircraft.

.My invention is shown as comprising a plurality of members 1,*2, 3, 4 rotatably mounted and adapted to be driven by a rotatable element 5 through any suitable gearingu. -The rotatable mounting of said members 1 to 4 may be effected by mounting them on the projecting ends of Shafts 6 to 9 respectively, each rotatably mounted in plates 10 and 11- secured to end plates 13 and 14. The drive connection, above-men tioned, may be eiected by the' gearing illustrated which may be arranged substantially as follows: c i

The element or shaft 5, which is shown journaled in ball bearings 27 in plate 14 may UJ- be provided with a pinion 15 secured thereto and adapted to mesh with a crown Wheel 17 secured to a shaft 16 journaled in plates 10 and 11. The shaft 16 may also have secured thereto a pinion 18 adapted to mesh with a gear 19 secured to shaft 6 and similar gearing 20 to 25 may be provided between the shafts 6--7, 7-8 and 8-9.

l The members 1 to 4 are utilized to control the actuation of a controller and While this controller may assume the form of a normally open or closed switclnvalve or other'controlling means I have shown, for simplicity a normally/ open switch ada ted to close when said members l to 4 are 1n a predetermined position. This switch or controller is shown as comprising a contact 29 carried by a spring arm 30 and thereby biased toward a contact 28, the latter and the arm 30 being carried by terminal posts 31 and 32, respectively, mounted in platte 13, which is preferably constructed of insulating material. The contact 29 is normally held away from contact 28 by a roller 33, of ivory or other suitable material, engaging arm 30 yand carried by arm 34 secured to a rock-shaft 35.

The rock-shaft 35, which is shown jourf naled at one end in plate 13 and at its other end in a bracket 36 secured to plate 10, is .shown as provided with a plurality of pins 37 to 40 projecting upwardly through o enings in the plate 10 and each adapted) to engage'the peripheral edge of a corresponding one of. members 1 to 4 which are made a substantially circular. The members 1 to 4 are' each shown as provided with a cut-awa.

portion and the design of the parts is suc .that the contact 29 is held away from contact 28 against the action of the spring 30 unless the cutaway portion of each of members 1 to 41s adjacent its corresponding pin 37 38, 39 or 40. Furthermore, in order to reduce friction, I prefer to so arrange the parts that when pin 40 is in engagement with the uncut portion of lits disc 4 the remainin pins 37 to 39 will not engage their discs and when 39 engages the uncut portion 'of its disc 3 the preceding pins 38,11nd 37 will not engage their discs, etc., (see Fig. 1).

`For va purpose which will hereinafter appear, I prefer to make the members 1 to 4 adjustable with respect to each other and with respect to their pins 37 to 40. `While this might be accomplished by so mounting lthe members 1 to 4 on their shafts 6 t0 9 as to permit the former to be manually adjusted with respect to the latter ll prefer to fixedly secure said membersl on said shafts and to utilize the structure illustrated and constructed substantially as follows:

Eachof the shafts 6 to 9may be depressed av suiicient 'amount in an axial direction against the action of a corresponding one of springs 41, secured at one end to the lower plate 11, to cause the gear on the depressed shaft to disengage the immediately preceding pinion (see Figs. 3 and 5). The depressed member may then be 4rotated lWithout causing rotation of the preceding member' and on release of the former thc corresponding one of springs 41 will cause the gears to reengage.

For the purpose of aiding in adjusting the device for operation at any predetermined number of revolutions each of the members 1 to V4 may be divided into a number of equal Scale divisions progressing in the intended direction of rotation of the corresponding member. It will be seen that each of the said members 1 to 4 is shown provided with ten` equi-angularly spaced divisions numbered to9 adapted to be read in conjunction with a reference line on a corresponding one of pins 37 to 40. It will be noted that the cutaway portions are so arranged on members 1, 2, 3 and 4 that the pins 37, 38, 39 and 40 will assume the inner position when the zeros on said members register with the lines on said pins. Furthermore, the member 1 is cutaway slightly morethan the other members, on the 9 side of 0 to permit the switch 28-29 to remain closed an appreciable length of time.

Assuming thatthe shaft 5 is adapted to be rotated in the direction of the arrow` in Fig. 2, 4that the gear. ratio between shafts 5--16, 16-6, 6 7, 7 8, and 8-#9 is one to ten and that dials 1 to 4, are set on zero positions, the operation of my invention as thus vfar -disclosed may be substantially as follows; If it is desired to cause the switch 28--29 to close after the shaft 5 has made,

.. say, 86,930 revolutions, the dial 4 should be depressed and the numeral 8 caused to register with the line on pin and said dial "should then'be released. They members 3,

l2, and 1 should then be successively set on numerals 6, 9 and 3, respectively in a similar manner. When the shaft 5 has vmade 86,930 revolutions the cutaway portions on y discs 1l to 4 come opposite pins 37 to 40 and l permit the latter to move inwardly, i. e., in

the direction of the arrow in Fig.- 1, thus 'permitting closure of switch 28-29 Obmenare' vio'usly the device may be set to cause closure of said switch after any desired num ber of revolutions of shaft 5 between the limits of 10 and 99,990 revolutions for the structure shown. Care should be taken to rotate each disc during the adjusting or setting operation in a direction opposite to its direction of rotation by the shaft 5. Care should also be taken to place the dials on zero position before any setting' is made. llt will be obvious also that the range of operation may be increased by increasing the number of members 1, 2, etc.

l/Vhile my device 'as above disclosed is capable of broad application, itis especially adapted for use on an aerial torpedo as has been previously mentioned. Thus they projecting end of shaft 5 may have a windwheel c-letachably secured thereto hy means of nut 47 screwed on the end of said shaft. A curved shell 46 may be provided between the nut 47 and wheel 45 as shown in order to reduce the air resistance to a minimum. The wheel 45'may be made of such pitch as to rotate one revolution when moved forward one yard 1n whlch case set- 'ting of members 1, 2, 3 and 4 will indicate termined number of yards within the limits` of the device.

The device may be detachably mounted within a tube 50, the front plate 14 being provided with an enlarged circular portion 51 to serve as a guide and closure for the tube. The posts 31, 32 may be prolonged to form plugs 52, 53 adapted to seat in metal lic. sockets 54, 55 mounted iin a plug of insulation 56 mounted in tube 50. Conducting wires 57, 58 may be secured to the sockets 54, 55 for the purpose of connecting the switch 28,-29 to any devices yadapted to be controlled. In order to prevent accidental ldisconnection of the device and tube a Inanually releasable spring catch 60 may be secured to the plate 14 and adapted to enter an opening 61 provided in tube 50 when the device is placed in the said tube. The

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62 and 63 adapt-ed tovclamp one of the vertical struts65 of an aircraft, said clamping arms being provided with a bolt.` 64.

It will be seen that each of the discs 1, 2 and 3 performs at least two functions; one function being to act as a micrometer setting dial for the succeeding disc or discs and another function being to act as a cam to give an .accurate Vpoint ofv closure for the controller. Furthermore, by virtue of the clutch connection between each disc and the immediately preceding disc itis possible to set the device quickly l and without unnecessary wear and tear. on the gearing and other movable elements. l

It will also be seen that by means of my i device it can readily be determined when the aircraft on which the device is located has traveled through the air a given distance. For'example, the disks 1 4, may be set so that their zeros will come opposite the ref- 30 erence marks on pins 37-40 after shalt 5 has inade a given number of revolutions, which corresponds, of course, to a given air distance of travel of the` craft. By airdistance of travel l mean the distance trav- 35 eled by the aircraft with respect to the air.

The actual air-distance'of travel ot' the aircraft may readily be determined at any time by observing the readings o said disks.

ln accordance With the provisions or" the 0 patent statutes, l have herein described the principle of operation of my invention, to-v gether with the apparatus, which l now con'- sider to represent the best en'ibodiinent thereof, but l desire to have it understood that 25 the apparatus shown is only illustrative and l `that the invention can 'becarried out by other means. Also, While it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, seine ot to these may be altered and others omitted `without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention entends to such use. f

Having described my invention, what l e5 claiin and desire to secure by Letters lattent is: v

l. An air-distance measuring instrument `lor aircraft comprising an elongatedv casing, ineans `ier securing the saine in an exposed position on the aircrafta forwardly-positionedrevoluble nose on said casing, blades secured to said nose, a train of gearing in said casing operated by said nos-e, and distance indicating means actuated by said es gearing.,

2. An air-distance measuring instrument for aircraft comprising an elongated casing, means for securing the saine in an exposed position on the aircraft, ashatt journalled so in said casing with its axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said casing and projecting from the forward end thereof, a tan adjacent theJ forward end of said shaft, a train or gear-in in said casing op- 55 eratedby said shaft, an distance indicating y means .actuated by said gearing.

3. A distance-limiting device for an aerial torpedo cornprisiuig an elongated casing, means for securing the same in ain exposed eo position on the aircraft, a shaft journalled in said casing with its axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said casing and projecting from the forward en'd thereof, a fan adjacent the forward end of said shaft, a train of gearing in said casing operated by said shaft, and a controller actuated by a predetermined number of revolutions ot' said gearing. l -f 4f. An air-distance measuring instrument for aircraft comprising an elongated casing, means -for securing the saine in an exposed position on the aircraft, a shaft journalled inv said casing with its axis' substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said casing and projecting from the forward end thereof, a fan adjacent the forward end of said shaft, a train'oi rearing in said casing operated by said shaft, means for initially Setting said gears for a predetermined distance, and controller brought into operation by the rotation of said gears through the distance set.

5. An air-distance responsive device :fior airdown gearing bet-Ween each dial and the iinniediately preceding dial, a shalt, ineens operated by the forward niovernent of the craft for continuously rotating said shalt, a con-` troller, inea-ns i'or setting each dial independently of said preceding dials and means brought into action when said dials have all assumed a predetermined position, for vbringing into opera-tion. said controller.

' 6. A distance-responsive device for aircraft comprising in combination a plurality of discs, each provided 'with a portion oi dii-- ferent diameter han the remaining part, speed reduction gearing between one of said discs and at least one other of said discs, a

shaft operated by the movement oil the aircraft, operative connections between said-- shat't and at least one of said discs, a controller and nieans tor governing said Controller comprising a movable part located in juxtaposition to each orn said discs..

7. ln a'register or the like oi aircraft, in combination, a trarne, a shalt rotatably supported in said frame, a fan on said shalt, a

vswitch carried by said trarne and governed by said shalt, to be actuated on a predetermined nurnber of revolutions of said shaft, a housing ror said traine adapted to be secured to the aircraft, a cont-act carried by seid traine and electrically connected to said switch and a contact carried by said housing and adapted to be engaged by said lirstV mentioned Contact when said frame is inserted into said housingE In 'testimony whereof Ihave aiixed my signatureo THOMAS H. PHILLIPS, JR.

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